topsail island

Monument

As in memory

As in hold on

As in wait a minute.

This is important. Stop everything.
Look. At. Me.

OK I will what have you got?

You, stranger.

One day you stop and talk
One day I stop and listen

And again and again
Now and again

It is pleasant. Happy. Enough.

And that is everything
And all there is:
No history or future
Only that space in between

You feel the sun on your back.
I feel it on my face.
We hear the surf.
Feel the sand. Shift.
Grow used to morning
Amid pelicans and helicopters
And sensible babies who cry in fear
Of the enormous surf
We hear.

You and I are a part of the landscape,
And landscapes change.

The beach, though.
It will be here.
We will return.
We will walk.
We will run.